Inside the Rainbow

Russian children’s literature 1920-35: beautiful book, terrible time.

Autore/i: Rothenstein Julian; Budashevskaya Olga

Editore: Redstone Press

prima edizione, foreword Philip Pullman, artwork Otis Marchbank, design Julia Rothenstein.

pp. 314, nn. ill. a colori e in b/n, London

Inside the rainbow reprints for the first time in english a unique compendium of Soviet picture books from 1920 and 1930s – a highpoint in the history of children’s literature.
In the dark and dangerous world of revolutionary Petrograd, a group of Russian poets and artists, among the greatest of the century, came together to create a new kind of book for children about to enter a Brave New World. Everyday life and recognizable figures from the streets became the raw material of imagination. Postman took the place of prince, the ice-cream man replaced the sorcerer, and the striking, vivid avant-garde art of Suprematist and Futurists leapt onto the page. These artists and writers dreamed of endless possibilities in a new world where children and grow-ups alike would be free from the bitterness of ignorance. For a time, when children’s publications still escaped the scourge of state censorship, their books became a last haven for learning poetic irony, burlesque and laughter.
In the book 250 brilliant examples of illustration and design are complemented by some wonderful translations of poems and stories as well as texts from the victims, criminals and witnesses to the Russian revolution.
Inside the Rainbow juxtaposes innocence whit ideology; nostalgic for a past that was lost forever with longing for a future that never arrived; nonsense whit commonsense; the homilies of the new educators with the diktats from the Kremlin. It was a dangerous world for these artists and writers to navigate and many of them didn’t survive. As those cruel and brutal times slowly recede from memory, this compendium pays tribute to the genius and humanity so strikingly evident in these beautiful books in the hope that they will never be forgotten.

Inside the Rainbow è una raccolta di libri illustrati per bambini, realizzati in Unione Sovietica fra gli anni Venti e Trenta.

Nel contesto di una oscura e rivoluzionaria San Pietroburgo, un gruppo di scrittori e poeti russi, fra i più grandi del secolo scorso, si riunisce per dare vita a una nuova tipologia di libro per bambini, foriera di sogni e aspettative per un mondo nuovo di adulti e bambini liberi dall’amaro retrogusto dell’ignoranza. Liberi dal flagello della censura, i loro libri diventano così un angolo di paradiso per l’apprendimento, l’ironia e il divertimento.

Questo volume raccoglie 250 magnifici esempi di illustrazione e book design, accompagnati da alcune bellissime traduzioni in lingua inglese di poesie, storie e testi di testimoni della Rivoluzione russa.

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